STATEMENT: The Defense of Freedom Institute Releases Statement on the DETERRENT Act

WASHINGTON—Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) President and Co-Founder Bob Eitel released the following statement after the House Education and Workforce Committee passed the Defending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions (DETERRENT) Act:

America’s foreign adversaries are working overtime to buy their way into universities using lucrative gifts and contracts. Countries like China and Qatar know that the path to influence in the United States runs through higher education, and they are willing to spend billions to buy that influence. Despite current law, billions of dollars of these financial transactions and the entities behind them have been underreported, or worse, totally unreported by institutions of higher education. Americans are entitled to know who is funding these transactions and their amounts.

The DETERRENT Act would bring strong accountability to these foreign financial transactions by making participation in federal student loans and grant programs contingent upon full and complete compliance with the bill’s disclosure and transparency requirements. We commend Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, Rep. Michelle Steel, and the House Education and Workforce Committee for their important work in demanding institutional accountability, protecting academic freedom, and preserving our national security.